About the John D. Greenwald Writing Competition

The annual John D. Greenwald Writing Competition commemorates the life of John D. Greenwald, former Deputy General Counsel at the Office of U.S. Trade Representative and the first Head of Import Administration at the U.S Department of Commerce, by inviting top submissions from J.D., LL.M., or S.J.D. students on current issues relevant to international trade law, the jurisprudence of the WTO or regional trade organizations, jurisprudence concerning U.S. trade organizations, an issue relating to the political economy or the efficacy of U.S. or international trade regimes.

The Institute partners with the Georgetown Journal of International Law (GJIL)  to oversee the competition and sends out a first call for papers in November of each year. Submissions are reviewed by an impartial panel according to the usual and stringent GJIL editorial standards and are then blind-reviewed by a Faculty Committee, composed of leaders in the field of international economic law.  The finalist articles represent cutting-edge scholarship for not only GJIL, but also international trade scholarship more generally.

The top articles are awarded GJIL publication and a cash prize, made possible as the result of a generous gift from the law firm of Cassidy Levy Kent in memory of the firm’s partner and friend, John D. Greenwald. The annual John D. Greenwald Writing Competition receives a number of thoughtful and innovative note submissions from law students across the world.

John D. Greenwald Competition 2024-2025 Call for Papers

The Institute is thrilled to announce that the 8th Annual John D. Greenwald Competition is now open. We are seeking novel and innovative note submissions from JD, LLM and SJD students on current issues in international trade law. To learn more about the submission criteria, please review our flyer below.

Submissions must be sent by January 20, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET to LawIIEL@georgetown.edu.

John D. Greenwald Competition 2024 Winning Submissions

• (First Place) Anne Marie Miller, “Promoting Responsible Trade in Consumer Plastics to Support the Development of a Circular Plastics Economy“
• (Second Place) Olivia Kreft, “An Uninvited Commodity – Synergizing International Trade and Environmental Agreements to Combat the Spread of Invasive Alien Species“
• (Third Place) Genevieve McCarthy, “The Brazilian Clean Energy Transition under WTO Subsidies Law“

John D. Greenwald Competition 2023 Winning Submissions

• (First Place) Nichole Chen, “Drafting Cybersecurity Articles into Trade Agreements for Developing Nations”
• (Second Place) Allison Reading, “Trade, War, and Stolen Cultural Property”
• (Third Place) Giovanni Dall’Agnola, “Promoting Sustainable Food Systems Through Preferential Trade Agreement”

John D. Greenwald Competition 2022 Winning Submissions

• (First Place) Mine Orer, “Drafting an Exhaustion of Local Remedies Clause for Investor-State Arbitration Reform”
• (Second Place) Alyssa Dickinson, “No Standard of Excellence for Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in the CPTPP”
• (Third Place) Tim O’Shea, “Don’t Look Away: Treaty Language and the Corruption Defense in Investor State Arbitration“

John D. Greenwald Competition 2021 Winning Submissions

• (First Place) Stephen Floyd, “Fishing for Answers: The WTO’s Search for Fishing Disciplines and Sustainable Stocks“
• (Second Place) Jacob Gladysz, “The National Security Exception in WTO Law”
• (Third Place) Shea O’Meara, “The WTO Meets Cash 2.0”

John D. Greenwald Competition 2020 Winning Submissions

• (First Place) Harrison Dent, “International Trade Law Concerns with China’s Digital Currency: How Sovereign-Issued Stablecoin Can Destabilize International Trade
  • Published in the Spring 2021 GJIL Issue and available on the GJIL Website under “In Print”
• (Second Place) Sandeep Thomas Chandy, “Customs Duties 2.0: Assessing the Legality of Imposing Customs Duties on Digital Products under the GATT and GATS”
• (Third Place) Tan Su, “The Role of Cross-Border Data Flow in E-Commerce: A Comparative Study of the Diverging Regulatory Approaches of the United States and China”